Chaos at Stansted as airport cancels ALL flights until midnight and 'politely asks' thousands of passengers to leave and re-book after shuttle bus blaze

Passengers earlier reported being stuck outside the airport, with Sarah Hinch asking Ryanair on Twitter: 'We were due on the 6.30 pm flight to Dublin is it delayed? We can’t get into the terminal.'

Jan Graversen, who was due to be flying to Copenhagen, said there was 'gridlock' in the car park outside, while Aileen Prendergast said she was 'locked out of the terminal'.

Italo Calvino also reported 'gridlock' just 200 metres away from the Stansted car park. At least one flight, a Eurowings trip to Hannover, Germany, has been cancelled because of the fire.

Winnie Agbonlahor said she had been waiting to leave the train station for 25 minutes because of the earlier evacuation, while Zak Johnson said he had been sitting and standing in queues for two hours in the aftermath of the accidental fire, which Stansted Airport said had been caused by an electrical fault.

Stansted Airport said all passengers were being 're-screened' with holidaymakers pictured waiting in the terminal, but later announced all flights had been cancelled and told passengers to re-book their flights.

National Rail also reported disruption on trains to the airport, with some services cancelled on the Stansted Express to London Liverpool Street.

A Stansted spokesperson told MailOnline: 'A shuttle bus caught fire on the terminal forecourt. The fire is now out but smoke from the fire went into the terminal building meaning we had to evacuate parts of the terminal.'

There are no reports of any injuries, the airport confirmed. The fire and rescue service said the bus was destroyed and the front of the airport building suffered smoke damage.

The area was immediately sealed off as the airport's own fire crews and appliances from Essex fire and rescue tackled the blaze.